Proposed Law Amends Local Records Act to Include Personal Emails

Last week, a bill was introduced in the Illinois House of Representatives concerning personal emails and the Local Records Act. House Bill 2385, which would take immediate effect if passed, proposes to amend the Local Records Act to include personal emails as public records if the emails are in connection with the transaction of public business and are sent or received by an agency, employee, staff member, contractor, or officer of the agency. The individual sending or receiving an email would be required to forward the email to the agency-provided email address, or if no such address is provided, the individual must print the email and provide a copy to the agency. Under the proposed law, agency members are required to use their agency-provided email address for all public business. Agencies that provide email addresses for one or more individuals would also be required to provide email addresses for all officers of the agency.

We will continue to provide more updates as this bill moves through the legislative process.